


Harry Potter and the Warrior's Execution

by HDTaggart



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:22:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28855026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HDTaggart/pseuds/HDTaggart
Summary: Lord Voldemort is in control of all of Wizarding Britain. For five years, Neville Longbottom had been the face of the resistance. Now he has been caught. Harry reflects on how they got there. Warning: not a happy story. Dark. Rated M for violence. One-shot.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Harry Potter and the Warrior's Execution

**Author's Note:**

> I want to give another warning, this is not a pleasant story. There is mention of torture. I wanted something different, and somehow ended up writing this. You have been warned. I honestly don't know why I wrote this.

Hogsmeade was now a dreary place. Where it used to be a bright place, where wizards and witches could revel in their magic without care, it was now gray.

The sky was gray and murky.

The houses were gray and soiled.

The people were gray and loathsome.

The streets had lost whatever charm they used to hold.

Despite this, the sight of the now dilapidated Honeydukes, brought memories of better times to Harry's mind. Times when Hogsmeade was a quaint, medieval town, the destination of weekend excursions for half of Hogwarts' students.

Times when his friends were all alive.

Now, Hogsmeade was primarily inhabited by Death Eaters and other purebloods who groveled at the sight of the Dark Lord's shadow. Lord Voldemort had chosen Hogwarts as one of his main bases, despite its primary function as a school. From what Harry knew about him, it was the only place he ever thought of as home, so transforming an abandoned wing into his residence made some sense. Hogwarts formidable defenses only made this more reasonable. For his own personal amusement, Voldemort had made himself Headmaster of Hogwarts. The main running of the school was left to the demoted Deputy-Headmaster Snape. Meanwhile, Hogsmeade functioned as the staging area for all Death Eater operations conducted north of Birmingham. All operations south of that were organized and conducted from the former Ministry of Magic in London.

Every once in a while, Hogsmeade also functioned as the site of execution for the most prominent resistance fighters. Today, Hogsmeade celebrated one such occasion.

The last one of his friends was coming up the road to the market square. Harry saw him walk tall between the four Death Eaters who led him to the scaffold. His bearing betrayed no fear. He was unbroken to the end.

Neville Longbottom had avoided snatchers for the last five years. He had probably hidden among Muggle England.

But Neville had not just hidden. He had fought, striking at Death Eaters from the anonymity of the Muggle millions.

There were stories floating around of Neville taking on a dozen Death Eaters at once. Harry was reliably informed that Neville was personally responsible for the death of 171 Death Eaters, with a possible fifty more kills assumed to be his work. This was according to the statistics to the corrupt Aurors Office. There could be countless more, as far as Harry could tell.

The name Longbottom had been a symbol of hope for all Muggle-born and the countless secret supporters of them. He inspired untold silent heroes to shelter and hide Muggle-born, and help them escape the country. Whenever an impossible deed was performed that harmed the pureblood cause, it was ascribed to Neville. Thus he had kept alive the hope of a better tomorrow.

Harry had hoped that he would never get caught. That he would see sense in the end, and escape to America or Australia. To abandon what was already broken beyond hope of repair.

But of course Neville was too Gryffindor for that.

He was so brave and loyal that it verged on the foolish.

Voldemort's minions now counted somewhere from three quarter to four fifth of Magical Britain.

Who could think that they alone could be enough to resist the combined effort of Voldemort's minions?

**HP &WE**

" _Harry, you alone cannot possibly get her out of there." Neville warns him._

" _We know for sure that she is in there?" Harry said as he looks across the sea. Azkaban is not visible, it is beyond the horizon._

" _There is no other place she could be. I'm sorry Harry." Lavender Brown quietly tells Harry._

" _Then, I have to get her out of there." Harry's voice is as even as the horizon they look at, hiding any emotions._

_The perpetual twitching of his left eye and the constant tremor of his wand arm betrays his true state of mind._

_He has not slept for five days._

_Five days ago Hermione was taken from him._

_It had been a routine mission. The four of them had smuggled an orphaned, seven year old Muggle-born across the channel. The little girl is now safe on the way to the United States. The four of them had relaxed their guard after they had handed her over at the American Magical Embassy in Paris._

_When they reentered England, it happened. A Death Eater ambush. Somehow Voldemort had known that they were coming._

_Does Voldemort have a spy in the Embassy?_

_Doesn't matter right now. What matters is that Hermione was caught. What matters is that his beautiful Hermione is right now in the depth of Azkaban._

_He has to get her out of Azkaban._

" _Mate, I think you should sleep a bit." Neville Longbottom puts his hand on Harry's shoulder, "You won't be able to help Hermione at all, if your body can't function."_

_Harry looks between his last two companions._

_Two of his last. Harry desperately clings to the hope that there are still four of them._

_Harry and Hermione, Neville and Lavender._

_Over the last two years, the four had grown into the most effective resistance cell in all of England. Death Eaters fear them almost as much as they fear their dark master. The four of them are the four most wanted in all the land. All Death Eaters and Aurors are commanded bring them in whatever the cost. Voldemort has promised a seat in his inner circle to anyone who gives him just one of the four._

_Harry looks at Neville and Lavender. He knows they are right. He needs to be in his best form to save Hermione. "Okay, I'll go take a nap. While I am doing that, you two find some ideas for how we can get Hermione out of that hell hole."_

**HP &WE**

_The plan that they came up with is simple. Neville and Lavender will stage two separate attacks to divert attention away from Harry. He has to sneak in, find Hermione and get her out._

_There are many holes in the plan. But they can't think of anything else. They would need a force of hundreds of experienced hit wizards for the plan to work, but the three of them is all they have._

_The only thing going for them is surprise._

_It has to be enough!_

…

_He succeeds to infiltrate Azkaban quite easily after Neville and Lavender distracted the regular guards._

_After that, it all blows up in their faces._

_Harry is captured by a platoon of Death Eaters wait for him in front of Hermione's cell. He is surprised that they don't kill him on the spot._

_Lavender dies when she goes in to help Harry, after she realizes that he is in trouble._

_The only one who is able to get away is Neville._

_It was a stupid plan._

**HP &WE**

At the sight of Neville, the crowd stirred into a crazy mob. Many laughed and rejoiced at the last of the resistance. For years, young pureblood children had heard horror stories of Neville as cautionary tales. They finally could relax.

Halfway into the square, one faceless member of the crowd had the idea to throw a rock at the tall blond.

The four Death Eater guards, guiding Neville to his doom, laughed.

More in the crowd followed the example, and a small shower of little rocks come Neville's way. One hit him in the head. Blood poured down his face, making him look like the madman of the pureblood children stories.

Neville denies them the satisfaction of a response.

Neville stepped up the stairs to the scaffold. His head still unbowed.

Sprinkled among the rejoicing crowd, Harry spies some faces holding back tears.

They are mostly half-bloods and some purebloods, who make up the last remnant of Muggle-born sympathizers. They came to show last respects to their hero, but cannot fully hide their fear and anguish.

Harry mused if they would be harassed as they would try to get back home. Probably.

Some might not even make it home again.

Really, they were irresponsible and rash for being here. There was no point. They should just save their hide.

Above the common mass of people, across the square in the balcony of the new hotel _Purity_ , sat the Dark Lord himself. The center of the biggest Death Eater party … ever. They would be celebrating for at least the week. With the capture of Neville, Voldemort had declared the war for Wizarding Britain over.

There were murmurs of a planed invasion of Magical France already. Or possibly Magical Holland. Regardless of the initial bridgehead, from the whispers that Harry had heard, the plan was to first take over Magical Europe. A next step would possibly be to take over the whole Magical continents of America and Australia. Others speculated that the rich regions of India or South East Asia would be a better second step after Europe. When Voldemort secured enough of the Magical world to be unassailable, he was rumored to plan the breaking of the International Statutes of Secrecy. If you believed them, then the end goal was said to be to take over the Muggle world, and to subjugate all inferior beings.

Who knew how much truth where behind the whispers. Regardless, all of this would not be for years in the future.

Or maybe Voldemort would just be happy to only be the sole ruler of Wizarding Britain.

Harry doubted it.

Neville finally reached the top of the scaffold.

One of the Death Eaters with Neville offers him a cloth to tie over his eyes.

He declined.

Neville, the Longbottom of Longbottom, did not fear to look death in the eyes.

There are worse things than death.

**HP &WE**

_For_ _three months,_ _Harry is_ _in solitary confinement,_ _in a barren,_ _drafty_ _cell._ _Harry sleeps on the stereotypical, half decomposed straw and stares at the sky through a tiny windowless shaft. He has absolutely nothing to do, except to constantly berate himself for his stupidity. The guilt he feels inside him has no escape._ _There is_ _no possible avenue for redemption_ _he can see_ _._ _For_ _these many weeks,_ _the only man Harry_ _sees is_ _the_ _Azkaban_ _guard who_ _comes to bring him bland porridge_ _once a day,_ _to keep him alive_ _._ _Harry remembers that there_ _was_ _the one time_ _when Voldemort entered his cell._ _But_ _Harry_ _can only puzzle_ _as to the purpose of that visit._ _He doesn't remember it clearly._ _He suspects he was memory charmed._

_Now, an extra guard comes into the cell, along his regular feeder. Instead of bringing him porridge, they drag him out. For ten minutes they guide him through the dark halls of Azkaban._

_Then, they shove him into a damp, dark chamber, and lock the door behind him._

_Thee Death Eaters already present, and at first they block the terrible purpose of this room._

_One of them steps aside to reveal a barely breathing, naked body of a woman._

_For a moment, Harry fails to recognize the body in front of him._

_The being, chained to a rotary torture board, looks only remotely human. She is so emaciated, only skin and bones are left, her hair is ripped out._

_Starvation is only the beginning of torture. After all after a day or two at most, the body suppresses the feeling of hunger. The Death Eaters had done their work thoroughly. All bones in her extremities are broken, probably many of her ribs as well. The toes and fingers are squished and unusable. Harry suspects they used thumb screws on her, or maybe a spell equivalent._

_Not an inch of her body is without bruises. Her eyes are empty sockets. Harry feels like he has to vomit._

_He notices that each ear is bleeding fresh blood out of the ear hole. They must have destroyed her hearing just before Harry entered the cell a moment ago._

_Then Harry realizes: this is Hermione._

_But the three Death Eaters are not done yet._

_They tie Harry to the wall opposite to Hermione. And then, they continue._

_Right in front of Harry, Hermione is tortured. The Death Eaters' imagination knows no bounds, they don't use a single torture spell twice._

_He hears her scream._

_And scream._

_And scream, until her voice gives out, and it is more of a sickly hiss._

_But she continues screaming nevertheless._

_He tries to console her. Tries to tell her that he loves her and lies that he will get her out of here._

_But she doesn't hear him anymore. Doesn't even realize that he is there._

_He rages at the Death Eaters torturing his beloved. He curses them and threatens them._

_They just laugh._

_He feels the cracks in his heart deepen. They formed when Hermione was taken from him, now they threaten to burst._

_His soul is breaking apart: Hermione is suffering, and he can't do anything about it. He failed her._

_Harry remembers the troll in first year, where it all began. Would that he could jump on that troll again. Save her again._

_But here he is, chained and weak._

_Useless._

"Crucio," _he hears the three_ _human_ _demons incant simultaneously._

 _Hermione's beautiful mind doesn't_ _have a chance_ _. Three simultaneous Crucios destroy any cognitive functions in a ma_ _t_ _ter of seconds._

_When the Death Eaters release the final spell of this torture session, they unchain both Hermione's body and Harry. Hermione's corps drops like a sack of potatoes. They knock on the door and a regular Azkaban guard opens the door for them. Without a glance back, they leave the room._

_Harry jumps to Hermione, but all he cradles is an empty shell._

_For a moment he is nevertheless comforted by her still beating heart. It is hollow comfort, but for a moment he dares to hope. There HAS to be something that he can do._

_Then, he fells Hermione's heart sputter._

_She doesn't breath again._

_Harry's reason to endure is no more._

_The cracks in Harry's heart burst apart._

**HP &WE**

_For an entire week, Harry lies next to his expired best friend._

_The only thing keeping him alive is the daily force feeding._

_He cries until the tears dry up, until he is physically not capable of crying any more. But the tears give him no relief._

_He builds his anger, swears that he will kill those three Death Eaters, who killed his sweet Hermione._

_But it does not make up for the guilt he feels for her death._

_He feels empty._

_There is nothing left of Harry Potter._

_It is a dying shell of a once great man, that hugs the cold, slowly composing body by his side._

**HP &WE**

_A guard comes in. Unlike yesterday, he holds no food. He is a Death Eater, which is a change from the regular Azkaban guards._

_The Death Eater vanishes the remains of Hermione._

_Harry doesn't feel anything anymore. He just lays on the dirty floor._

_The Death Eater binds Harry and levitates him out of the torture chamber. The bindings are really unnecessary. Harry has no desires anymore, so he has no desire to escape. The two go through the security check point by the harbor, and then step through the restricted floo that only connected to the security check point on the shore, just outside the restricted area around Azkaban. There, they have to again pass the security check, then the Death Eater places a smelly sock into Harry's hand and says: "Mission 2003-AZ0313c complete" and the Portkey activates._

_Harry is whisked away, and moments latter falls roughly onto the floor of a large hall. It is filled with Death Eaters, ministry officials and various pureblood courtesans. Lord Voldemort sits on his throne, surrounded by members of his inner circle._

" _Everybody leave this room this instant." The Dark Lord commands. The mass of people exits hurriedly, while also leaving a large space around Harry._

" _I have found out some very interesting things about you, Harry Potter." Voldemort says once they are the only two people left in the room._

_Harry does not respond._

" _You see, I finally discovered what is behind the link our minds share."_

_Harry raises an eyebrow, but doesn't otherwise react._

" _As we both know, you and your little band of headaches have destroyed all of my Horcruxes. All but one." He looks expectantly at Harry._

_Harry stirs, and sits up. This actually interests him. He is still in the same mental state of wretchedness, but he desperately wants to know what they had missed. The four had wondered again and again, if they had gotten all, if Voldemort was now mortal._

" _You are my last, accidental Horcrux." Voldemort states in a heavy voice._

_He rises from his throne and begins to walk around Harry. "This presents me with a bit of a dilemma. I would love nothing more than to finally kill you. Yet I am hesitant to make another Horcrux. I already fractured my soul too many times. My accidental creation of the Horcrux in you proves that my soul is dangerously unstable. Even I don't know what would happen, if I try to fracture my soul once again. And so, I am left with your life ensuring my immortality."_

_The Dark Lord stops in front of Harry. "Which is why I am going to make you a real Horcrux."_

_At a call by Voldemort, two Death Eaters bring in a young muggle boy into the hall. The two Death Eaters leave after placing the boy next to Harry._

"Avada Kedavra." _Voldemort intones._

_The whimpering of the little boy ends._

_Voldemort waves his wand in a complicates pattern as he pronounces words in a language long dead five thousand years ago. Harry feels pain through the mental connection. Voldemort flinches briefly, but does not disrupt his casting._

_After what feels like an eternity of pain, Voldemort releases Harry with a sigh._

" _It is complete, you are now a full Horcrux. And like all Horcruxes you are now_ _almost completely_ _indestructible. I think you even can withstand basilisk venom, thanks to your little adventure with my Diary. The Killing Curse and Fiendfyre will still end you, so I'll have to_ _account for that."_ _He stared at Harry for a few moments,_ _"Fiendfyre will be easy."_

_Voldemort conjures a crystal vessel, and a silver dagger. He cuts at Harry's wrist and curses when the dagger wont pierce the skin. After a few calming breaths he mutters: "I suppose it is good you won't bleed to death. We'll have to make due."_

_He cuts himself, and fills the crystal with his own blood. At the Harry's startled expression, he explains: "I stole your blood, remember."_

_Without any additional explanation, Voldemort calls a guard and Harry is thrown into a cell in the basement._

_At least it is not Azkaban._

**HP &WE**

_Several full moons later, Harry is brought before the Dark Lord once more._

_Without explaining what is going on, Voldemort shoves a pitch black, ice cold potion down Harry's throat. He grinds down the skull of a firedrake, and sprinkles it on Harry's head. Then he takes first an living ashwinder and then a dead salamander and wrings out all their blood over Harry's head. The blood flows down and drains him. To close it off, he gives Harry another potion. This one is bright as the full moon and hot as a volcano. Harry fells like he is drinking molten lava._

_Then Voldemort steps back and enchants:_ "Fiendfyre!"

_The fiery serpent envelopes Harry. He is terrified, but also rejoices. He will see Hermione again, in a few short moments._

_The ropes that bind Harry and the rags he is wearing, and all the filth that has accumulated since he was caught, all burns away._

_But instead of heat, Harry only feels the ice cold of the pitch black potion._

_He is astonished as Voldemort dispels the Fiendfyre. Harry stands completely naked and clean in front of the Dark Lord._

_That avenue to see Hermione again is now closed._

" _That only leaves the Killing Curse." Voldemort mutters._ "Legilimens."

_Ever since Snape 'tried' to teach Harry Occlumency, he hates the mind arts._

_Harry has no defense to the greatest Legilimens since Merlin._

_Voldemort shreds through Harry's mind. Surprisingly, he leaves most alone, only a few places he rips out quickly, and rebuilds his mind efficiently afterwards. It hurts, but to Harry's annoyance, it hurts less then what Snape did to him in fifth year. Snape was tormenting him just for his own enjoyment. If he ever has the chance, he will kill the slimy bastard, Harry swears._

_After Voldemort leaves Harry's mind, he is confused._

_Voldemort has given him a longing to live again._

_A longing, yet without a reason. He still has no reason to want to live. Harry still feels empty and forlorn._

_He even feels suicidal, but at the same time he knows that he would do anything to live._

_Anything._

_He also notices that he want to share the pain he is feeling. Snape and the three murderers of Hermione will not die quickly, Harry promises himself._

_Meanwhile Voldemort says: "Mulciber, Dolohov, come to your master."_

_After several moments, the two Death Eaters called for enter the room. They kneel a few feet before their lord._

" _Gentlemen. I have a new trainee for you two. He gets special treatment. Mulciber, you get him into shape. You have each afternoon until he is up to your standard. Dolohov, you train him in the mornings, until he knows all you know."_

" _Master, it will take years." Dolohov protested. Mulciber smirked, his job would be done much quicker._

" _Then, you will give him those years." Voldemort hissed._

" _Yes, Master."_

" _Go now, you have much to do. And Harry, don't disappoint me. I will check on your progress weekly."_

' _If that is what I have to do to survive and inflict pain, then that is what I will do.' Harry thought to himself._

**HP &WE**

Harry looked up at Lord Voldemort.

The lord of the land sat on a movable throne, surrounded by his most loyal and trusted inner circle.

Blood red eyes connected with killing curse green. The Dark Lord dipped his head with a single nod.

Drowning his own emotions, Harry lifted the heavy ax.

Hesitating a fraction of a second, Harry stood on the scaffold. The ax above his head. The square around them was filled to the brim, but not a squeak could be heard.

Neville spread out his arms, in the shape of a cross.

After a last gulp of air, Neville put his remaining will into a last call of defiance, a last plea to his countrymen:

"FREEDO-O-O-OM!"

His cry pierced the silence.

It would haunt Harry for the rest of his life.

Harry could not delay any longer, he pushed his whole weight into the ax as it fell. At least he would make it a quick, clean death for his former friend.

Neville's head rolled down, and fell into the crowd.

Darkness fell upon the land.

**Author's Note:**

> So how did this come together? Well, I can't really say why I wrote this, I saw the title in a random title generator (from www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=hpstory), and thought of the basic premise of Harry executing Neville. Then I had to explain how Harry changed so much, that he would do such a thing, and suddenly I was describing abhorrent torture. Should I even have posted this?
> 
> Comment on the structure of the story: The three parts in past tense are actually what is happening right now. The two italicized parts in the present tense are Harry remembering the events that led to the scaffold . He constantly remembers them and despairs over them. To him it is the present, more real to him then what happens around him, thus the present tense.
> 
> Obviously, the final scene was inspired by the movie 'Braveheart'. Great movie, give it a go, if you have two hours to spare.
> 
> I have ideas for a potential sequel where Harry possibly finds redemption, but absolutely no promises for that to ever be written. This was mostly a little project to distract me from my main story, and also it is supposed to be a pure tragedy, so I don't know how that would fit.
> 
> Please Review, even if you just want to shout at me for this!


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